Hana Mandlíková

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Hana Mandlíková
Country Flag of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
Flag of Australia Australia
Residence Prague, Czech Republic & Sanctuary Cove, Australia
Date of birth February 19, 1962 (1962-02-19) (age 46)
Place of birth Prague, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 59.8 kg (132 lb/9.42 st)
Turned pro 1978
Retired 1990
Plays Right-handed
Career prize money US$3,340,959
Singles
Career record: 565-194
Career titles: 27
Highest ranking: 3
Grand Slam results
Australian Open W (1980, 1987)
French Open W (1981)
Wimbledon F (1981, 1986)
US Open W (1985)
Doubles
Career record: 294-118
Career titles: 12
Highest ranking: -

Infobox last updated on: August 22, 2007.

Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the U.S. Open. She was the runner-up at four Grand Slam singles events and won one Grand Slam women's doubles title, the U.S. Open in 1989 with Martina Navratilova. Beginning with the 1980 US Open and extending through Wimbledon in 1981, Mandlíková played in four consecutive Grand Slam singles finals.

Struggling with injuries and a lack of confidence, Mandlíková retired at the relatively early age of 28.

Contents

[edit] Personal life

Mandlíková is the daughter of Vilém Mandlík, who was an Olympic 200 meter semifinalist for Czechoslovakia in 1956.

[edit] Career

[edit] Junior

Mandlíková first came to the tennis world's attention as a junior player. In 1978, the International Tennis Federation launched the world junior rankings, and Mandlíková became the first ever female World No. 1 junior player.

[edit] Open

Mandlíková captured her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 1980, defeating Wendy Turnbull in straight sets in the final. Her second came a year later at the French Open with straight-sets wins over the "Queen of Clay", Chris Evert Lloyd, in the semis, and over West German left-hander, Sylvia Hanika, in the final. Mandlikova was also runner-up at the U.S. Open in 1980 and 1982 and at Wimbledon in 1981, losing in all three finals to Evert.

In 1983, Mandlíková led Czechoslovakia to the first of three consecutive Fed Cup titles.

In 1984, Mandlíková defeated Martina Navratilova in three sets in the final at Oakland, California, ending Navratilova's 54 match winning streak, two short of tying the record held by Evert at the time. Navratilova then embarked on a 74 match winning streak, a record that still stands.

In 1985, Mandlikova became the first woman since Tracy Austin to beat both Evert and Navratilova in the same tournament when she beat the top seeded Evert 4–6 6–2 6–3 in the semi-final and the second seeded Navratilova in a thrilling 7–6 1–6 7–6 final at the U.S. Open.

In 1986, Mandlíková teamed with Turnbull to win the women's doubles title at the WTA Tour Championships. In doing so, they defeated the top two teams of the time, Navratilova and Pam Shriver in the semifinals and Claudia Kohde Kilsch and Helena Suková in the final. Mandlikova and Turnbull were also runners-up to Navratilova and Shriver at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1986. Mandlíková also lost in the Wimbledon singles final that year to Navratilova but not before avenging her 1981 final loss to Evert in the semis. Another high point of Mandlíková's summer that year was a win over Steffi Graf in the quarter-finals of the French Open. Graf had been the hottest player on the clay court circuit that season, winning four titles with wins over Mandlíková, Evert, Navratilova, Kohde Kilsch, and Gabriela Sabatini, and even held a match point in the second set of their quarter-final before Mandlikova stopped Graf's run with a 2–6 7–6 6–1 triumph.

In 1987, Mandlíková won her fourth and final Grand Slam singles title when she beat Navratilova in straight sets in the final of the Australian Open. Her last consistent performance in a Grand Slam event was at the 1988 Australian Open, where, as the defending champion, she reached the quarter-finals and lost 2–6 2–6 to the eventual champion, Graf.

Mandlíková and Navratilova then teamed up in 1989 to win the U.S. Open women's doubles title, beating Shriver and Mary Joe Fernandez in the final.

Mandlíková assumed Australian citizenship in 1988. She retired from the professional tennis tour in 1990, having won 27 singles titles and 6 doubles titles. Her career-high singles ranking was World No. 3.

Since retiring from the tour, Mandlikova has become a successful tennis coach. She coached Jana Novotna for 9 years, during which time Novotna won Wimbledon and reached the World No. 2 ranking. Mandlikova has also captained the Czech Republic's Fed Cup team.

Mandlikova was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (4)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1980 Australian Open Wendy Turnbull 6–0, 7–5
1981 French Open Sylvia Hanika 6–2, 6–4
1985 U.S. Open Martina Navratilova 7–6, 1–6, 7–6
1987 Australian Open (2) Martina Navratilova 7–5, 7–6

[edit] Runner-ups (4)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1980 U.S. Open Chris Evert 5–7, 6–1, 6–1
1981 Wimbledon Chris Evert 6–2, 6–2
1982 U.S. Open Chris Evert 6–3, 6–1
1986 Wimbledon Martina Navratilova 7–6, 6–3

[edit] Singles titles (27)

  • 1978 - Milan, Adelaide
  • 1979 - Montreal [Futures], Kitzbuhel, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney
  • 1980 - Australian Open, Adelaide, Stockholm, Mahwah, Atlanta, Amsterdam
  • 1981 - French Open, Houston, Mahwah
  • 1984 - Oakland, Dallas, Boston, Houston, Washington DC
  • 1985 - US Open, US Indoors, Oakland
  • 1987 - Australian Open, Washington DC, Brisbane

[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Career SR
Australian Open A QF W QF 2R 2R A SF NH W QF 4R 3R 2 / 10
French Open 2R QF SF W SF QF SF QF SF 2R 2R 1R A 1 / 12
Wimbledon A 4R 4R F 2R 4R SF 3R F A 3R 4R 2R 0 / 11
U.S. Open 3R 2R F QF F QF QF W 4R 4R A 3R A 1 / 11
SR 0 / 2 0 / 4 1 / 4 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 1 / 4 0 / 3 1 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 2 4 / 44

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links